Harness the Power of History to Sharpen Your Data Today

From the moment we celebrate our first milestones to marking important business events, we learn early that history matters. It gives us a sense of significance, relevance and perspective.

Now, more often than not, we’re focused on the here and now—the what’s-happening-this-minute nature of our business. As we work to build actionable insights that drive business growth, we need to keep our eyes on the past, just as much as we focus on the future.

Maybe you need to assess cyclical property values. Or determine how elections impact the market. Or uncover which industries buck certain trends over time.

How do you know you’re getting the right historical data and how can you use that data to inform better decisions?

First, it’s about trusting your content sources. Are you working with a partner who has enduring relationships with leading sources of content? These relationships need to extend beyond traditional news outlets. They should also include trade experts, bloggers and thought leaders and top industry analysts. By combining insights and data from well-rounded expertise, you can ensure the information you’re getting—whether real-time or archival—is information you can trust.

Second, how far back can you go? Sometimes, just going back one year is enough. Sometimes, you need more. If you’re reviewing economic trends, you need to be able to view decade’s worth of insights to truly assess how patterns over time should impact the choices you’re making and the recommendations you’re providing.

Finally, when thinking about the power of history, you need to consider how it all gets pulled together. Don’t burden yourself with generating reports, or even combing through others’ reports, to get to the real insight. Work with a solution that can get you to the “why it matters” just as easily as they can get you to the “here it is”.

If you’re not taking a look back, you could be missing key pieces of information that your customers could benefit from in the here and now. Research is meant to empower better decision-making, greater growth and real results. Be sure to leverage history as often as you can. Forgotten stories from the past will thank you. And so will your customers.

Ready to learn more? Check out these quick links to other resources and articles about harnessing the power of history